Sorgham to Cider: 5 Gluten-Free Beers and Beer Alternatives Beer Sessions

Since gluten-forming proteins are found in wheat, barley, and rye, that pretty much takes beer off the menu for people with gluten intolerance. We can’t let that happen! Here’s a round-up of gluten-free beers to check out. Any others to recommend?

• Green’s Gluten Free Beers – Green’s specializes in Belgian-style ales, most often brewed with de-glutenized barley malt. Look for their Discovery (strong ale), Endeavor (dubbel), and Quest (strong pale ale).

• St. Peter’s Sorgham Beer – This sorghum beer is very similar to a German-style pilsner. It’s clean and crisp with some nice citrus hops flavors.

• Dragon’s Gold from Bard’s Tale Beer Company – Of all of these, this might be the most basic “beer” beer. Meaning, it’s a basic amber beer, decent malts and lightly hopped. Made from sorghum.

• Crispin Cider – Not technically a beer, of course, but these are fermented with yeast and quite delicious! Crispin makes a few different kinds: Honey Crisp, The Saint (brewed with maple) and Landsdowne (brewed with molasses).

• Aspall Cyder – If dry and crisp is more your style, try this cider. We served this at Thanksgiving and it was a big hit!

Honestly, there’s just not much out there for beer lovers who can no longer have gluten. The top three on this list are the best that we could find. Some microbreweries and brew pubs are starting to serve gluten-free beers on tap in their restaurants, but they haven’t made it to bottles yet. (Check out Deschutes in Oregon and Alchemist in Vermont if you’re in the area.)

A lot of beer forums on this subject advise looking into the new wave of artisan ciders like those we mentioned or turning to homebrewing.

Have you found any good gluten-free beers?

Related: Brittle to Bibingka: 20 Gluten-Free Treats for the Holidays

(Images: Green’s, St. Peter’s, and Bard’s)